Posted January 26, 2012 at 8:38 pm by Ray De Varona
As much as I don’t like it, lighting retrofit projects have to compete for corporate funds just like all other projects. If it was up to me, lighting retrofits would just be given the green light and prioritized above all other capital requests, and corporations large and small would come flocking to RelightDepot for their energy efficient lighting needs. In the real world, project sponsors have to justify why they want to spend money on new lights if the existing ones work just fine. The most common way to do that is by building a business case that includes a return on investment (ROI) and a simple payback calculation. In this article, I’ll walk you through the simple math that will help you prove that the money spent on a lighting retrofit is money well spent.
Posted January 6, 2012 at 12:00 am by Ray De Varona
Prior to the late 1970′s, ballast manufacturers used a group of compounds called polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs, to insulate and cool the inner components in certain electrical products. One common application was to cool the internal capacitor of fluorescent lamp ballasts. These components contained a small amount of PCB oil and most of it is typically absorbed by several layers of paper within the device. Since these compounds were found to be health hazards and were linked to the development of certain cancers, they were prohibited by the US Congress in 1979. The risk of PCB leakage is quite low, however anyone considering a lighting retrofit project, or involved in these types of projects routinely, must understand how to determine if a ballast contains PCBs and what to do if it does. Read the rest of this entry »
I’m sure you’ve realized by now that in order to calculate the return on investment for a new lighting system, you’re going to have to know how much energy your new fixtures will save you. In order to know that, you’re going to have to have an idea of total wattage the existing fixtures you have are consuming. You could dismantle a sample of the fixture and read the specs for the ballast and lamps you have, but that can be tedious and very time consuming. Another option is to use a standardized system wattage table that provides a very good rough estimate on the total system watts for your old lamps and ballasts. The following list includes some of the most common fixtures you’ll encounter while doing energy audits and it provides the total watts that these fixtures draw.
We have performed many lighting audits for warehouses and industrial facilities across the country. In doing this, we have developed a very simple form that captures all of the pertinent information for a lighting audit in a single sheet of paper. We are happy to share this form with you in hopes that it makes assessing your building’s potential for a lighting retrofit easier.
While doing some research last week, I bumped into this great video that was put together by the folks at ElectricTV.net. I was surprised to see the logo of our sister site RelightWithT5.com towards the end, so I decided to reach out and ask if they would let us embed the video here. It’s great to see all of the points we’ve been stressing about T5HO high bay lighting being repeated by a professional organization like NECA and IBEW.
ElectricTV.net is the on-line “Television network” of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers and their contractors, The National Electrical Contractors Association. “E-TV” uploads 2 electrical based stories per month presenting new technologies, installations and project profiles. To watch stories just like this one, visit www.electricTV.net today.
Posted March 31, 2010 at 10:16 am by Ray De Varona
I was just recently sent a link to Shanghai Hong Yuan Lighting & Electric Equipment Company Ltd, a professional ISO certified LVD induction lamp manufacturer located in Shanghai. The company provides a wide variety of induction lamps and fixtures. They also have a fantastic video that was filmed by the Discovery Channel that shows how induction lamps are made.
For far too long, the standard for lighting warehouses, industrial facilities, manufacturing facilities and other high ceiling height applications has been the 400 Watt Metal Halide fixture. Advances in ballast technology and the improvements of the T5 High Output (T5 HO) Linear Fluorescent lamp have led to many new light fixtures that are targeted specifically to replace old HID high bays.
The following article details the many benefits that the T5 HO high bay fixture offers over traditional 400 Watt Metal Halide high bays. These include energy efficiency, improved lumen maintenance, instant start, more usable and better quality light and improved color characteristics. To find out if T5 HO high bay fixtures are the best choice for your application, don’t hesitate to contact us. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted December 18, 2009 at 9:45 am by Ray De Varona
We’re often asked how 4-lamp and 6-lamp T5HO High Bays fare when compared with traditional 400W Metal Halide fixtures. The chart below compares 4-lamp and 6-lamp T5 fixtures against a traditional 400W Metal Halide High Bay along a number of dimensions. The comparison dimensions are listed below with a short description of each.
Posted December 12, 2009 at 10:59 am by Ray De Varona
One of the most common questions that facility and operation managers ask is “How much light do I need to properly illuminate my facility?”
Since 1958, the Illuminating Engineering Society has been publishing recommended illuminance levels for a multitude of tasks and facility types in table form. The published tables provide guidance for both generic tasks and hundreds of very specific tasks. In order to understand these tables, it’s best to start with an overview of how light is measured.
This article gives a brief explanation of how light is measured and provides a handy table that can be used to determine how much light is needed in various types of facilities. If after reading this, you have any questions about the quantity of light you should plan for in your lighting retrofit project, don’t hesitate to contact us.
Posted November 18, 2009 at 1:20 pm by Ray De Varona
T5 and T5HO fluorescent high bay fixtures and other T5-based specialty lights are built around a linear fluorescent tube lamp. Like other types of lamps, the number in the name of the lamp reflects its size. The “T5” name reflects the diameter of the tube in eighths of an inch. A T5 lamp is five-eighths of an inch (5/8”). Similarly, a T8 lamp is eight-eighths (or one inch) in diameter and a T12 is 12 eighths (or 1-1/2 inches) in diameter. One of the features that make a T5 bulb and T5-based high bay light fixtures more efficient is the fact that the lamp is 37% narrower tube than a T8 and over 55% narrower than a T12 lamp.
This article describes the background and technical specs of the T5 and T5HO lamps as well as some considerations you should keep in mind when relighting your facility with these types of lamps.
I’m sure you’ve realized by now that in order to calculate the return on investment for a new lighting system, you’re going to have to know how much energy your new fixtures will save you. In order to know that, you’re going to have to have an idea of total wattage the existing fixtures you have are consuming. You could dismantle a sample of the fixture and read the specs for the ballast and lamps you have, but that can be tedious and very time consuming. Another option is to use a standardized system wattage table that provides a very good rough estimate on the total system watts for your old lamps and ballasts. The following list includes some of the most common fixtures you’ll encounter while doing energy audits and it provides the total watts that these fixtures draw.
We’re often asked how 4-lamp and 6-lamp T5HO High Bays fare when compared with traditional 400W Metal Halide fixtures. The chart below compares 4-lamp and 6-lamp T5 fixtures against a traditional 400W Metal Halide High Bay along a number of dimensions. The comparison dimensions are listed below with a short description of each.
One of the most common questions that facility and operation managers ask is “How much light do I need to properly illuminate my facility?”
T5 and T5HO fluorescent high bay fixtures and other T5-based specialty lights are built around a linear fluorescent tube lamp. Like other types of lamps, the number in the name of the lamp reflects its size. The “T5” name reflects the diameter of the tube in eighths of an inch. A T5 lamp is five-eighths of an inch (5/8”). Similarly, a T8 lamp is eight-eighths (or one inch) in diameter and a T12 is 12 eighths (or 1-1/2 inches) in diameter. One of the features that make a T5 bulb and T5-based high bay light fixtures more efficient is the fact that the lamp is 37% narrower tube than a T8 and over 55% narrower than a T12 lamp.
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